Week 9- Arax, Liu, Parker, Mackey

1) The Big Valley by Mark Arax.

The author is telling a story about his life and where he grew up. Mark begins by telling us about an adventure he had when he was a boy and he wind up getting lost. The engine of his Lil Indian overheated and got stuck in the mud. He was surrounded by turkey vultures that looked hungry. Luckily his cousin was riding beside him and saved him. Then he starts talking about his grandfather who arrived when Forkner was still blasting holes to plant Calimyrna figs. Marks grandfather was a poet who found new land and a vineyard. Marks father grew up on the farm but left in 1950 to pursue a football scholarship at USC. By the time Mark was grown his father had ran a grocery and then a bar, so he was only able to see a vineyard in paintings. Mark goes into detail about how the fig orchard land changed to stores and fast-food restaurants. Then he starts talking about his journey to Tulare and goes into detail about cities and how they have changed. Then he talks about the Caterpillar and the big impact it had on the farmer’s soil. He ends it by talking about his father and how things could have been if he had stayed farming and how his father was murdered.

The sentence I liked was, Today, the fig orchards of northwest Fresno are gone, swallowed up by custom houses and tract houses, Wal-Marts and Targets, and so many fast-food chains that when McDonalds wants to launch a new product nationwide, it does its first test here. (19)

While reading that sentence it made me think of when I went to Fresno for Easter. His description is so true. There is a Wal-Mart and next to it is a Target and there are there were a lot of other businesses their but the only other place I was able to see driving by was Sonic.

I did not know that the key to good yields is to keep the soil airy and free from compaction.

2) Transient in Paradise by Aimee Liu

This chapter was about how at a first glance at Beverly Hills it seems like a dream of desire and paradise but it transforms hunger into ambition, envy, lust, and greed. Everything is contrary to that first glance; it is more of a fear. Aimee goes into detail about how Beverly Hills is not paradise and that it is transient. No matter how impressive an up front Beverly Hills puts on, the truth lies within the hands of the beholder. All one needs to do is look hard enough to see that there life is no better than a poor or homeless person and then she gives examples of it. Then while she is listening to the rich talking while at a funeral it remind her of a man named Richard. Richard was homeless and he would station his wheelchair in front of Nate ‘n’ Al’s and she would converse with him because of the book he would read. He had a disease that was shrinking him and when he died Aimee found out by reading an article in Los Angles Times that he was once an aspiring screenwriter but lack of family and his disease distorted his fate.

My favorite sentence was desire is merely the version that says, I want and am taking mine- and better me or us than them or you. While the inverse, better him or her or them than us, is simple code for fear. (33)

While reading this chapter it made me think of how the world actually is not what people make it out to be. On the outside some make want others to believe that everything is peaches and cream but deep down inside and behind the curtain it is a whole different ball game. Everyone has fears but most would rather hide them than show or face them.

I did not realize that there were homeless people in Beverly Hills, I imagine that since it so high classed that they had some kind of security not allowing them to be around there.

3) Showing of the Owens by T. Jefferson Parker

Parker is telling a story about how he had a chance to show off California’s Lower Owens River to novelist Brian Wiprud. While he was driving near by there was a place were you could catch wild rainbow trout, Parker mentioned to Brian since he recently returned from a fly-fishing tour of the Amazon River. Then Parker tells about the topic of fly-fishing and how it’s like a progressive disease once you start you can’t stop. Around this time Brian notices that he has a rash on his hand. Parker then talks about the sky and how it looks. By dark Brian caught nine fish and Parker only had caught two. This is a story about a fishing trip with a friend and the good memories he had while at this river.

I like the paragraph where Parker is describing fly-fishing. (39)

While reading this chapter it made me think of how I would like to take my family on trip so that they can have good memories to share with their friends and family when they get older. Also that I have never been fishing and that I must be missing out on something pretty interesting.

I learned a little about fly-fishing and how one can get addicted to it. Also that there was a movie made about it, A River Runs Through It.

4) The Distant Cataract About Which We Do Not Speak by Mary Mackey

Mary Mackey is telling a story about when she would sneak up on the ducks in the Folsom dam and she wonders how she is able to get so close to them without them noticing that she was not one of them. Then she mentions how she got startled by a beaver on one of her trips returning back to island. The American River is a place where her and her husband likes to go where they can fanaticize about relaxing places. Also that it is a place were millions of people go of different cultures to enjoy it as well as they do.

I like the sentence “That THING is definitely not a duck!”(46) Reading this made me laugh.

While reading this chapter it made me think of my family’s little trips to the rivers in the summer and how they enjoy it and how their imaginations probably run wild while they are playing and having fun. I wonder what they imagine when they are there in the water playing, laughing, and having a great time.

I learned that the American River Parkway runs through the heart of the city from Folsom Lake to the point where the American River joins the Sacramento. It is amazing to see how the rivers and lake are all somehow connected.

The similarities between these stories are that they are all trips in California, these are trips people took who want to tell about there good memories, and tell a little about experiences they had and give one an idea of about who they are and what California is about. They are all about the outdoors. The differences are these trips all take place in different cities and towns.

Class Reviews

1) Catherine- The California Poppy, our state wildflower is tied to Fort Ross.

2) Kayla- One of Clarks most famous work is known to be the Lucy Stem Complex from 1932 which brings California Spanish artwork alive.

3) Araceli- The name Napa was given to the valley by the Wappo Indians who first inhabited the area.

4) Erin- The Coast Miwok's are most famous for their basketry.

5) Jessica- Face book got its name from a colloquil name of books that was given at the start of an academic year.

6) Kyle- Phones were never meant to be considered mass media but with the invention of cell phones equipped with internet connection which is mass medium, the medium is connected to the mass media.

7) Raquel – The Modoc used to live near the California – Oregon border.

8) Valerie- She visited the Pomo reservation near Fort Bragg and thought it was not the nicest place.

9) Sofia- On September 20, 1965, it was announced that Armstrong was going to be Command Pilot in Gemini 8, which was a manned spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program.

10) Alex- Over a period of 54 years, 21 California mission were established by the Spanish.

Week 8

Latin American Independence

The Latin American Independence (1807-1824), is a political and military movement that ended colonial rule by Spain and Portugal over Mexico, Central America, and South America and gave birth to the modern independent nations of Latin America. When the independence movement began in the 19^th century it contained two colonial empires, the Spanish and the Portuguese. Spain’s colonies stretched from what is now the western United States and Mexico to Argentina, while Portugal’s empire was in Brazil. Under the system of colonialism, these territories were subject to extensive and complex networks of control by Spain and Portugal. Both empires functioned well for three centuries until the mid-1700s when grievances developed with the colonist, who complained about economic restrictions and tax burdens. The colonist also resented European-born residents that were favored for important bureaucratic and administrative positions.

I choose this topic because I have always wanted to learn more about how the Latin American became independent. I have heard bits and pieces of it but it really never stuck to me, so I decided to research it myself and The Age of Enlightment explains a big part of it. The three facts of are:

1) The Age of Enlightment is a term used to describe the trends in Europe and the American colonies during the 18th century prior to the French Revolution (1789-1799). This phrase was used because the people were convinced that they were emerging from centuries of darkness and ignorance into a new age enlightened by reason, science, and a respect for humanity. This period is also often referred to as the Age of Reason.

2) The Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the French Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the Polish-Lithuanian Constitution of May 3, 1791 was motivated by the Enlightment principles.

3) The single most influential and representative of the French writers was Voltaire. Though it was in Paris that Denis Diderot, the author of numerous philosophical tracts, began the publication of the Encyclopédie (1751-1772). This work, on which numerous philosophes collaborated, was intended both as a compendium of all knowledge and as a polemical weapon, presenting the positions of the Enlightenment and attacking its opponents. Philosophes was a group that promoted the advancement of science and supported the new tolerance of open-mindedness of the Enlightment.

Sources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4cAQ5T8dmg&feature=related

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571679/Age_of_Enlightenment.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588450/Latin_American_Independence.html

I choose these sources because for one the encyclopedia usually is reliable and for the others because most of the information I read were similar, so I decided to trust it.

Class Reviews:

1) Antonio said what attracted him to his museum was the health exhibition and that was the first place he went.

2) Daniel said what caught his eye was the Spider Silk Golden Cloth Exhibit. An item that took 4 years, over 80 people, and one million Madagascar spiders to create.

3) Sophia said that the location that attracted her was That Men Seldom Make Passes at Women With Glasses. It is a ten by fifteen foot mural of Marilyn Monroe with two collages/sunglasses with silvery blue-green frames. The sunglasses are composed of images of football players.

4) Dinlaka said what caught her eye was a photo of a lynched man being hung from a tree.

5) Catherine said that she chose her museum because she loves learning about plants and am interested in sustainable agriculture.

6) Judy said that one piece that she liked from this museum was an oil on canvas piece called Report from Rockport by Stuart Davis. This was one of Davis’ most important canvases because it was the first in which he utilized his color-space theory.

7) Mario said that he learned a lot about the military and that in the future we will be using machines to seek out the enemies. Also that what caught his was the Laser-Guided Bombs.

8) Valerie said that the one exhibit that attracted her to the museum was the odd architectural/sculpture exhibit called the P wall. Also that she chose this museum because she didn't know very much about modern art, and is interested to see what kind of new perspective she can gain from seeing art made by artists that are not only influenced by ancient art, but today's culture as well.

9) Megan decided to visit her museum because she has always been fascinated by glass art, and the skill and talent that goes into making such beautiful pieces. She wanted to get a better understanding of some of the techniques they use to make their glass, and how they incorporate the vivid colors that I love so much.

10) Kyle was attracted to the Battleship Oregan Exhibit that played an important role in the Spanish American War. It was made in San Francisco and was nicknamed the Bulldog because of its large foaming bow wake the resembled a bone in the teeth of a dog.

Week 6

Part 1- Online Field Trip #2

What is the name of your museum, what does it contain, and why did you choose it?

The name is Museo de Arte de Ponce (MAP). It contains a collection of one of the most respected samples of Western art, spanning from the High Middle Ages to the 19th century. It also has an exhibition of paintings, sculptures. prints, photographs, drawings, and other three-dimensional objects dating from the nineteenth century until the present. This Museum was created to serve the general public by exhibiting, preserving, studying and collecting visual arts of the Western tradition. It encourages a deeper understanding of art, artists, and their context. There objective is to educate their visitors and are founded by the constructivist principle of pedagogical and andragogical level, which states that for education to be effect it should provide experiences both intellectually and actively. It also has an Art Circle Program that provides the opportunity to acquire limited artwork. This Museum is committed in providing awareness of Puerto Rico’s cultural heritage. I chose this museum because of it having the same name as my last name, Ponce. I wanted see what this museum had and what it was about.

What video clips or background websites did you use (be specific)?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_de_Arte_de_Ponce

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kVk7GWdd_8&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=opM4dfTNrN4&feature=related


What did you learn from the background info (3 facts)?

This Museum is located in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Don Luis A. Ferre started the MAP collection in 1957 with hopes of sharing with all Puerto Ricans the important aspects of the European, American and Puerto Rican art history.

Today the Museum houses more than 4,000 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper distributed among 14 galleries.

This museum contains one of the most important pre-Raphaelite collections in the western hemisphere.

What is one specific work in this location that attracted you? Give us the name, and related background info which you must do more research on google.com.

The Madonna and Child painting is the work that attracted me in this Museum I picked this because anything that has to do with the children always catches me eye. Especially in this picture because even though it is Madonna she is depicting the Virgin Mary who I have strongly believe in. This is a painting by Italian medieval artist Duccio de Buoninsegna in tempra with gilding on wood panel around the 1300s. It depicts Mary, the mother of Jesus, holding infant Jesus. This painting is sometimes called Stoclet Madonna after its second owners.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_and_Child_(Duccio)

Part 2- Reviews

1) Catherines fathers worked with Charles Schulz for over twenty years.

2) Alexa like her museum a lot because it was hands on.

3) Erin favorite piece was the Legion of Honor is Sailboats on the Seine which was painted by Monet.

4) Christine is a history buff and found the museum that was chosen fascinating.

5) Danille chose the Young Museum to solely focus on de Young.

6) Dinlaka felt there was a lot to learn and appreciate from Asian culture.

7) Jared hand lot of fun with the hands on exhibition in the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

8) Jessica never heard of the Hearst Castle and neither have I.

9) Mario said that the Virgin de Guadalupe caught his attention and that Our Lady of Guadalupe is generally recognized to be a symbol of all Catholic Mexicans that why he chose this image to give hope to the world.

10) Kayla learned about earthquakes and how they affect big buildings in San Francisco.

Week 5

Part 1

1. What is the name of your museum, what does it contain, and why did you choose it?

The museum that I viewed was “The Lace Museum and Guild.” It is a non-profit organization incorporated in 1981. Its mission is to preserve lace and the art of lace making, to exhibit lace and its historical use and to offer lace making classes. The exhibit features many different styles of tape lace. The Battenberg is perhaps the most famous. The Guild is comprised of people who make, study, and collect all kinds of lace. I picked this museum because I have always heard of museums of art, photos, animals, sculptures, and so on but I never knew that there was a lace museum. It caught my attention because I wanted to see what a museum of lace would actually have to present and show. I also never knew there is so many different types of lace.

2. What video clips or background websites did you use (be specific)?

http://www.culture24.org.uk/am28464

http://www.americantowns.com/ca/sunnyvale/organization/the_lace_museum_and_guild

http://www.laceguild.demon.co.uk/

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:*:IE-Address&rlz=1I7AMSA&resnum=0&q=what+is+battenburg+lace%3F&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=3sy2SpTUEJPqsQOPnoTSDA&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4

http://lace.lacefairy.com/Lace/ID/Battenburg.html

http://www.battenberglace.com/

3. What did you learn from the background info (3 facts)?

What I learned is that this museum is staffed entirely by volunteers. The lace Guild is the largest organization for lace makers in British Isles. They aim on providing information about lace making, its history, promote its use, and encourage design. They do this through their magazine “Lace “. The Lace Guild also has the most comprehensive lace library in the world and it has been recognized by the award of registered museum status.

4. What is one specific work in this location that attracted you? Give us the name, and related background info which you must do more research on google.com.

The one piece of work that attracted me was while I was doing searching the museum it mentioned that the Battenberg lace was perhaps one of the most famous. Given that their was no picture, I decided to looked it up and found some pictures of what it looks like to see why it is famous. It comes in various forms such as dresses, shirts, wedding dresses, trimmings, tablecloths and much more. Battenberg lace is a style of renaissance lace on a satin background, usually trimmed with beads, sequins or linen tape to form a clean scalloped edge. It is the most simplest and has the least amount of hand work fillings. It can come solid or with a small open area down the center. This handwork dates back to the 16^th century. This lace tapes work has developed two brand new techniques Battenberg Cutwork and Battenberg Patchwork. Cutwork is an old time favorite blend of hand and machine work. The Patchwork was created with quilters in mind. It is a quilting technique that combines contemporary quick fuse patches with traditional lace tapes to make one-of-a-kind projects.

Part 2

1. Alexa thinks Freire life is very interesting.

2. Araceli posted a very interesting picture of Paulo.

3. Catherine, I liked the way she summarized Paulo’s concepts of his overall theories.

4. Christnies intro of Freire was very well organized.

5. Danielle thought that Freire's most important idea was that of a "teacher who learns and a learner who teaches".

6. Dinlaka, by reading her intro about Freire I learned that he taught 300 farm workers how to read and write in 45 days.

7. Erin explained the pedagogy of the oppressed in an understanding way.

8. Judy found it interesting for Freire to compare education to a democracy.

9. Kayla said that Freire was imprisoned for 70 days.

10. Kimmie believes that Freires approach of changing the system of education can make a notable difference of all humanity being given an opportunity to learn in a positive environment.

Week 4

Part 1
Paulo Freire

Paulo Freire was a Brazilian educator and influential theorist of critical pedagogy. Freire was born September 19, 1921 in Recife, Brazil and passed away May 2, 1997 from a heart attack. Freire became familiar with the 1928 Great Depression which help shaped his concerns for the poor and helped construct his particular educational viewpoint. In 1943 he enrolled in Law School at University of Recife. He also studied philosophy, phenomenology, and psychology and became a teacher in secondary schools teaching Portuguese. In 1946, he was appointed Director of the Department of Education and Culture of the Social Service in the State of Pernambuco. Here he worked primarily with the illiterate poor to improve their learning, training, and education.

Freire became the icon of social change throughout education. He was the original person to establish the tradition of popular education in Latin America and has been disseminating the pedagogy of the oppressed to the world since his book was published in 1972. In this book as well as other he argues the system of education and emphasizes learning as a culture, freedom, and for it to be a dialogical pedagogy designed to raise individuals' consciousness of oppression and to in turn transform oppressive social structures through praxis.

Though exiled from his native country, Brazil, during a military coup in 1964 for his educational work among the rural poor, he still continued his "pedagogy of the oppressed" in Chile, and later under the auspices of the World Council of Churches in Geneva and then throughout the world. In 1969, he taught at Harvard University and ten years later returned to his own country under a political amnesty. In 1988 he was also appointed Minister of Education for the City of Sao Paulo, a position which made him responsible for guiding school reform throughout the nation's schools.


References:
http://www.education.miami.edu/ep/contemporaryed/Paulo_Freire/paulo_freire.html
http://mingo.info-science.uiowa.edu/~stevens/critped/freire.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire

Part 2
Reviews:
1. Alex learned that America is not the only country facing high unemployment.
2. Vannessa trust her gut just like Oprah does and it has always been right and that what makes her the person she is today.
3. Erin learned from Obama’s speech that the tensions between the American people and Muslims are a result of colonialism.
4. Sophia felt that Oprah’s video was very inspirational and realized that it could have a big impact on her own life.
5. Megan felt that in Oprah’s video that the most striking story for her was the flesh eating disease story.
6. Mario felt that the most striking story Oprah gave was the one of Monica George. The lady who gave birth and developed a bacterial disease and had to get her limbs amputated. I found this story very inspiring as well.
7. Kayla did not know how smart the Islam’s were in the way of how they created compasses and math that we use today.
8. Laurel learned that Morocco was the first nation to accept the United States as a country.
9. Raquel hopes that Obama’s speech will become a historical moment that will start a long road to peace and harmony between all citizens in the world.
10. Alexa learned that Muslims helped invent medicine.

Week 2

VIDEO 1-Obama’s Speech

Q:What are these histories, cultures, nations?

A: These histories, cultures, and nations are about the Muslims and the U.S. Obama explains how the Muslims are important to the U.S. and how seeking a new beginning between us will help resolve conflicts that we have. Obama says we need to focus on our aspirations and not our differences.

Q: What is your summary of this video?

A: In this speech Obama explains how Muslims as well as other nations and cultures were treated badly and viewed the west as a hostile nation. Obama feels that by seeking a new beginning based on mutual respect and interest between America and Islam to overlap and share the same principle would be a good place to start to resolve our problems. Partnership on Islam and America must be based on what Islam is and not what it should be. The U.S is a great source of progress of equality and that is shaped by every culture including Islam. We all share common aspirations and humanity and what affects one will affect all. The problems that we face must be dealt through partnership or it will fail. That is why Obama feels that contributing to other nations and cultures to help construct their economies is a part of the solution. Obama address seven issues that need that we need to confront, such as violent extremist, nuclear weapons, democracy, religious freedom, women’s rights, and economic development. Obama feels that today America has a dual responsibility to help Iraq and others to forge a better future.

Q: What information did you learn that you did not know before?

A: I learned that due to Muslim innovation that we have algebra, compasses, pens, printers. Also, how diseases spread and how they could be healed. They introduced us to music, poetry, and much more.

Q: What does the President say about 'dialogue'?

A: He said that dialogue is an important factor that we need to address in order to form partnership to help our nations gain respect for each other. By speaking the truth as human beings can help form bridges of positive actions. This is far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart.

Q: What did he say that relates to culture through either one of these items: the visual arts, drama, film, music, dance, literature, philosophy, religion?

A: Obama mentions many religions and cultures; that these are what make up the U.S., so that is why it is important to respect one another and learn how to become united instead of turning against each other.

Q: Why do you think this relates to U.S. cultures (no wrong answer; this will be made clear during a future assignment?

A: I think that this relates to U.S. culture because here we have different cultures and ignoring or excluding them out is not going to help our situation. It is better to accept and try to get along; so we can work together and resolve our problems not make them worse.

VIDEO 2- Oprah’s Speech

Q: Who is in the video?

A: Oprah was in the video.

Q: What summary can you provide of this video?

A: Oprah tells seven stories that she learned through her work experience and its lessons to be learned from each one to help you be successful in life. Oprah advice to college graduates is that if you have not completed the circle of success unless you have helped someone else move forward.

Q: What part strikes you the most?

A: The part that strikes me the most was the story about the mother who had a c-section and got her arms and legs amputated due to an infection she caught after the operation. What amazed me though was how courageous and positive she was about the situation. All she was worried about was getting home to her family to care for them and be by there side so she could be a part of their lives. I have two kids and one on the way and I do not know how I would react to such a situation or how I could live with not being able to hold or do the things mothers do with their children.

Q: Does this person affect any part of our culture through either one of these items: the visual arts, drama, film, music, dance, literature, philosophy, religion?
A: Yes, her shows have a lot to do with different cultures, each is different and there is always a lesson to be learned. I do not watch her shoes but I have heard she contributes a lot to each category mentioned above.

Q: Do you think this person has influence for our humanities studies (why/why not)?

A: Yes, she influences our humanities because she sends a positive message to our society regardless of our religion or culture. She came’s up with topics never even thought which catches your attention.

Reviews:

Dinlaka has a son and daughter.
Alex’s hometown is Santa Rosa.
Alexa grew up here in Santa Rosa and is taking this class in hopes to learn more about her country.
Araceli has a MySpace, face book, and other blogs. She must like computers.
Catherine loves to learn new things in the world we live in and that is one reason she is taking this class.
Arcelia says Santa Rosa is the place where she was born and hopes to remain in.
Erin is a full time accountant.
Daniel thinks that Santa Rosa is boring but likes the food.
Kayla thinks that Santa Rosa has cool weather and is a nice community.
Judy is from Cotati.

Week 1

1. What is your first name only (NOT last name): My name is Tamika


2. Why are you taking this class and what do you hope to learn: I am taking this class because it is a prerequiste to transfer to a university. I plan on transferring to Sonona State to get my BA in criminal justice.
I hope to get a better understanding of humanities and it forms of expressions, since I have never taken a humanities class before. This class seem to catch my interest, so here I am.


3. How far do you live from SRJC main campus?(For this I want you to go to google.com, then select maps to get the SPECIFIC answer; for this you type in your address and 1501 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa, CA to find the exact mileage. EXAMPLE: 2.6 miles from campus. The goal here is to use new tools available to us AND to know the distance your classmates are taking this class from. Every semester I have a few students out of state, out of country. You can always come back to edit this. To Edit in Blogger, click on COMPOSE, then you'll see the EDIT link): I live 2.2 miles from campus

4. Briefly, what do you think of when you think:

Santa Rosa?
A semi-big town getting smaller due to the poplution increase. The city I live in.
California?
A state of opportunities. The golden state.
West Coast?
Oceans
The U.S.A?
Land of liberty and freedom
The World?
A place with different kinds of people, races, religions, animals, land, trees, etc.; which without them we could not make up the world

5. Have you created a blog or webpage in the past?
No, I have not,this is my first blog

6. Regarding computers, are you on a mac or a pc?
I am on a pc
7. Do you/can you text on your phone?
I can text from a phone but at the moment I can not because I am without